New math models pick up where computers fail

[C1ay]

For all the advances in computer power of recent years, many real-world processes are still so complex that they defy the capability of even the most advanced supercomputers to describe them - and to address such problems, mathematicians are being called for help.

 

As part of that effort, Oregon State University recently received a $647,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. It's one project in a national, $20-million initiative to have advanced mathematics pick up where sheer computing power is inadequate.

 

In this project, OSU mathematicians will be trying to model the flow of fluid through a porous medium, such as water through soil. It may sound simple, but in practice this can be so extraordinarily complex that there are still more questions than answers.

 

"The use of models that are suitable for laboratory experiments to describe processes on the scale of a watershed will bring any computer to its knees," said Ralph Showalter, professor and

 

head of the OSU Department of Mathematics. "We're trying to connect information at the microscale to the big picture, and for that we need new mathematical systems that at least give the computers a chance."

 

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